Shades of White
by Kannetsui
Summary: When Yagyuu's little sister transfers to Hyotei on a full scholarship she is the new object of many curious eyes, and much to her disappointment Hyotei doesn't have a proper female tennis club (REUPLOADED)
1. Chapter 1

**REUPLOADED FROM OLD ACCOUNT: SAPHIRESS**

Someone contacted me on my new account and asked me to finish the story, I had the original word documents still on my laptop so I thought, why not?  
I've edited the grammar and spelling, looking back it was so horrible that I'm slightly ashamed of myself, it's still terrible now though so I don't know how much better it is :)  
So, sorry for the long wait and I hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter 1**

Marui sighed. "I can't believe this day actually came."

"I know, I mean we all knew it was coming but…" Kuwahara trailed off.

"It's one thing saying it and another it actually happening," said Yagyuu.

"Like Sanada and Yukimura dating, we all knew it was coming but-" Kirihara's mouth was promptly covered by one of his senpai's hand.

"Third year is going to be horrible without you lil sis," Yagyuu said, hugging his year younger sibling. She was the gentlemen's sister through and through, with same face and side parting they almost passed for twins, however her hair was a shade darker and her eyes had a hint of gold and green within the brown. Niou always teased on how cat like the siblings eyes were.

"Bye Onii-chan," replied Yagyuu Hinata.

"I don't get it, she moves schools and all of a sudden we're all weepy and sad," remarked Niou disinterestedly. "She's not moving continents, she's not even moving houses, just visit her after school."

"You'll need to find someone else to bleach your hair wouldn't you?" Marui pointed out as he chewed on his gum. "And wasn't she going to pierce your left ear lobe for you?" Niou suddenly grabbed Hinata's wrist tightly.

"Don't you dare leave," he said firmly, Hinata looked at him, startled and shocked for a moment but then laughed.

"I can't wait to see you get your ears pierce by someone you don't know or trust, she or he is gonna bound to stuff it up and you'll be forever recognised as 'Niou, guy with demented left earlobe'," she said to him.

"Hina-chan, that's not very helpful you know," Marui sighed. It was like watching a dog and its owner, the owner always knew which button to push. He just shook his head resigned. Niou was hopefully going to be mellower this year now that Hinata wasn't going to be there accompanying him on his pranks and tricks, there was a fine line between funny and over board and he was scared that his silver haired friend would cross that line now that Hinata was leaving.

"Okay, I'm off," said Hinata as she stepped back to take in the image of the five Rikkai students standing outside Hyotei's front gates. She laughed, it was too funny that a 15 year old brother felt the need to accompany his 14 year old little sister on her first day of the school.

There was no denying that Rikkai was an excellent school but it didn't posses the funds or learning programs Hinata needed if she wanted to become a heart surgeon, she applied for a scholarship near the end of her first year and was now going spending the rest of her school life at Hyotei. All the friendships she'd made in her first year at Rikkai were now useless and she'd have to start from scratch one more, one of the many sad points, however on the upside Niou would no longer be there to put confetti and other things in her hair and down the back of her shirt.

"Your little sister is growing up," said Marui putting an arm around Yagyuu's shoulder. "I still remember our first encounter with her when she was in the sixth grade and came to visit you."

"We took her out to Maccas and Niou fell asleep beside her," Kuwahara continued the story in the same parenting tone. "She reached for her fanta and the lid popped off and spilt all over Niou's face and hair."

"Her first words were 'Uh oh'," Marui chuckled at the memory.

"Uh oh was right, Niou just bleached his hair silver and the santa had a bad chemical reaction with his fresh new colour," added Kuwahara. "To this day I will forever remember the image of Niou sitting on our bathroom floor while Hinata redyed his hair for him."

"And an everlasting friendship were forged," Marui said in a poetic voice. He sniffed and wiped a imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. "She's grown up that one, our little duckling has grown up to be a lovely white swan."

"Black swan, you mean," remarked Niou. "The same colour as her heart." Kuwahara clamped his hand over Niou's mouth.

"For once shut up, we're savouring the moment," he said as Niou struggled against Kuwahara's palm. Yagyuu, why was paying his friends no attention, was starring after his sister with a particular thought on his mind. "Hey man what's up?"

"Her skirts too short," said Yagyuu watching his little sister walk away. "You know what I'm just going to let down the hem so-"

"Okay, time we go to school," said Marui taking one of Yagyuu's arm.

"Agreed," said Kirihara taking the other, together they dragged Yagyuu away.

* * *

Hinata inhaled slowly then exhaled, she repeated the process again and again until she was calm.

"A gentleman never reveals his emotions." Her brother had taught her that, to get through life, you needed a poker face, that was her interpretation of it, not exactly what he preached but it worked.

She sat down in the teachers lounge waiting to be led to her classroom, the man currently in charge of the new transfer students was a man by the name of Sakaki and a music teacher, Hinata took one look at him and knew her was a strange one. There was no way in hell he was 'just' a music teacher.

"Yagyuu Hinata?" asked Sakaki, she stood up and picked her books and tennis bag up from the floor and followed the man dressed in an expensive looking brown suit, she resisted the temptation to reach out and touch the fancy material. "Where did you transfer from?" he asked.

"Rikkaidai," she replied, he seemed nice enough, a man with a perpetual bad smell under his nose and a stick up his arse perhaps but nice enough. She had a way with strict teachers so she was confident he wouldn't bite her head off.

"Hmm? A impressive school, their tennis club has won the national title two years in a row I believe, would you by any chance be related to one of the regulars, Yagyuu Hiroshi?" Why was a music teacher asking about her brother? Did he want her to give him information on her brother?

"Yes, he's my brother, he was the one who taught me tennis," she answered being as vague as possible.

"Hmm? Are you a good player?"

"Compared to my brother, no, but I hold my own," she replied confidently.

"Then you should consider joining the tennis club."

"But I though Hyotei didn't have a…"

"After school, why don't you meet me at the tennis courts and we'll see what you've got," Sakaki interrupted. "I am the coach of the tennis club, if one has talent and skill they are always welcomed." But the moment you lose you're done for, he didn't say the words out loud but it felt like that was what he meant.

Hinata nodded politely. "Why not?" They stopped outside one of the classrooms on the third floor.

"Each day had six periods, each going for 50 minutes, recess and lunch totals 90 minutes, here is a map and your timetable," Sakaki handed her two rectangular cards. "Welcome to Hyotei, I look forward to seeing you after school then." With that he turned and left, Hinata raised an eyebrow as she watched him leave. Strange man, no, forget him, she shook her head as she turned around and knocked on the classroom door. I hope not all teachers are like that, she thought to herself, the door opened and there stood a teacher, he too was wearing a suit.

"New student?" she nodded. "Come in then and write your name on the blackboard." Hinata picked up the chalk and wrote her name. "Okay, Yagyuu-san, please introduce yourself to the class."

Hinata put the chalk back down and turned around, the class had fewer people than she was used to, yet all students wore brand name watches and diamonds earrings and rings.

I want to go back to Rikkai, she moped silently behind her poker face, she was already missing Kirihara and his terrible jokes and Marui visiting her with piece of cake. "Hello, my name's Yagyuu Hinata and I was born in September," she began, she inhaled. "Well, I like to cook, read and play tennis…" She held her breath and waited for the rich brats smug remarks. "…Any questions?"

A male with curly silver haired raised his hand. "What style of tennis?" he asked, sounding honestly curious.

"I prefer playing doubles," she replied. "My style, hmm, I guess I quite like to attack," most her tennis was derived from Marui's teaching when he was high on sugar, although she couldn't perform the genius's techniques she gave him a run for his money with her own.

"Ehh!" remarked the silver hair. "Western or eastern grip?"

"Both, depending on the situation I switch," said Hinata. "It also depends on how tired my grip is."

"Since you two seem to get along well," interrupted the teacher. "Yagyuu-san, why don't you sit beside Ootori-kun?" Hinata nodded and walked down the classroom to the back beside the silver haired student, she could have sworn a girl glared at her as she passed.

"Hello," he greeted. "I'm Ootori Choutaro, it's a pleasure to meet you Yagyuu-san."

"Hinata's fine Ootori-kun, whenever someone calls me Yagyuu I think of my brother," said Hinata, Ootori blushed.

"Then please call me Chou-…please call me by my first name as well," he insisted.

"It's nice to meet you Choutaro-kun," she said. Well, it seems not all rich kids are spoilt after all…

* * *

"Ahh! Daito-sensei sure can talk," Hinata complained as she stretched out her arms. Ootori laughed.

"You'll get use to it," he said as he stretched as well. "I figured out how to fall asleep sitting up during his classes and also-" he picked up his pen and began spinning it around his fingers. "You pick up some extra skills." Hinata picked up her pen and tried to imitate him but it fell out of her hand after one spin. Ootori smiled and leaned forward, he picked up the pen and placed it between her index and middle finger. "Try just going left and right," Hinata did as he instructed. "Use your thumb to add the circular motion," he reached forward and touched her hand, suddenly aware of their proximity he quickly pulled back.

"It's weird isn't it," said Hinata.

"Huh?"

"My hands, they're unusually cold, don't know why though," she added.

"Oh, y-yeah," said Ootori. "Yeah…I'm not a very good teacher am I?" he asked as Hinata dropped the pen once more.

"Yep," she said trying again. "Then again it's not exactly something you can teach is it?"

The bell that signalled that the school day was over rung, Hinata packed her belongings and dug out her map, her eyes skimmed across the tiny drawings, searching.

"What are you looking for?" asked Ootori.

"Tennis courts," she replied. "And the washroom…"

"Well, the tennis courts are here," Ootori pointed to an unexpectedly large area. "And the washrooms are labelled with the standard girl in a dress." Hinata nodded in understanding as she lifted her tennis bag over her shoulder. "Need I come with you?" Hinata giggled.

"Come with me to the toilet? No thanks," she said. "Well thank you for helping me today and I'll see tomorrow then." She waved goodbye.

"Bye," replied Ootori waving back nervously, she seemed like a nice person and had a pretty smile to boot.

* * *

Hinata washed her hands in the sink, the Hyotei Gakuen bathrooms were too much, 10 individual sinks each furnished with several choices of scented and unscented hand washes and instead of a dryers or tissues, there was a small pile of towels. Schehera was tempted to foist them and dump her spoils in Niou's bedroom. She dried her hands and picked up her tennis bag, looking in the mirror Hinata gave her hair a quick brush with her fingertip before she walking out of the toilets. Her nose thanked her, the smell of perfume was over whelming. She looked down at her map and tried to navigate way to the tennis courts when a small group of females stopped her.

"Hi?" she greeted them cheerfully. Great…the fan club, wonder if rich sluts are any worse than the RFC back at Rikkai…probably too scared to chip a nail.

Hinata was used to being bullied, having a brother known as the 'Gentlemen', a 'second year ace' as a close friend and a 'Genius' and 'Trickster' as acquaintances caused friction between her and the rest of her gender, wasn't her fault that they didn't seem to like her. Although Hinata had to admit that her pert tongue did play a major role in the destruction of many potential friendships.

"Stay away from Ootori-sama," said the one in front, her perfectly permed brown locks in pigtails. Easy to grab hold of, Hinata noted.

"Can't help that, he's been assigned as my partner," she replied with a smile.

"Then tell the teachers to swap for someone else."

"And risk Choutaro-kun's reputation? What do I tell the teacher?" Hinata said in with her poker face. "Kya! He tried to grab me?" She imitated the girl's high pitched voice.

"You bitch, he would never!" Pigtails snapped her fingers and two girls each grabbed Hinata's arm, she reached for her taser and pepper spray but decided against it and slipped out of their grip. She then kicked the ground spreading dust in the air, blinding them for a moment she used the opportunity to run.

Don't want to get sued, she thought but another girl launched at Hinata almost knocking her to the ground. Before she realised what was going on a hand pulled the psycho off of her, as the dust cleared she recognised the familiar mop of silver hair of the male who helped her. She smiled as he glared at the girls but wasn't so happy that he wouldn't let go of her, his hand was now holding her firmly around her waist as if she was a rag doll.

"Hey! A piece of advice, next time your rabies infected minds decide to attack this idiot her," she hit him lightly. "Keep in mind, make a enemy of Hinata and you make a enemy of Rikkai! And that this one fights dirty!" The girls scurried, all fluster from being yelled at by such a handsome male, he grinned wolfishly at Hinata. "Puri."

"Puri my arse, let me go," she demanded, he did but not without giving her waist a quick squeeze. "Pev…"

"I'm a healthy hormone driven 15 year old male," he replied in his own defence, his arms in the air in front of his face as if he was preparing to defend himself from her punches. Hinata looked at him. Niou was the same as ever, the regrown was getting obvious but aside from that he was exactly the same as when she left Rikkai. All of a sudden a swoop of emotions flooded though her, at first she was relived to be free of a sugar addict and a violent tempered classmate but all of a sudden she missed them. "Hey, Heeee-na-chan…you okay?"

Her poker face was breaking as she began to cry. "I want to go back, back to Rikkai…" she sobbed as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Niou stood there uncomfortable and unsure of what to do; he sighed and awkwardly warped his arms around her. "Let go of me, I'll get your skirt wet…" she said as she resisted his hold.

"Baaaka, I have spares you know," he replied, she chuckled as she continued to tear. "You came here to Hyotei for a reason right? You left your fan club, your brother, and even pitiful me behind, for what?"

"To become a first class surgeon," Hinata answered quietly, resting her head against his chest.

"What type of surgeon?"

"Heart surgeon…"

"Why?"

"So I can help other people like they did to me," she whispered her hand unconsciously touched the scar on her chest.

"You have a dream, don't stop chasing it," said Niou. "And don't forget that you need to pierce my left ear and dye my hair the cool silver that it is now." She laughed lightly and wiped her tears.

"Okay, I'm sorry for breaking down like that," she told him. Hinata had honestly never seen him more uncomfortable. "You can let me go now…" Niou instead hugged her tighter.

"I quite like this actually," he remarked hugging her tightly. Hinata relaxed a little against his tight hold; it felt nice and comforting until she caught the scent of a female's perfume lingering on his neck.

"Okay, let go, now," she warned, Niou didn't listen and earned himself a knee in the stomach. "Why do you never listen?" she asked as Niou fell on to the ground clutching his stomach. "And, more importantly, why are you here?" Niou coughed a few times before answering.

"Yagyuu was acting all depressed so I decided to skip training and drag you back to Rikkai," he answered, standing up. "Just to prove to the rest you will still visit."

"Did you miss me?" Hinata asked in her sweetest voice and fluttering lashes.

"No," Niou scoffed. Hinata turned and walked away. "I kid, I kid," he insisted following her. "Where are you going? The exit is in the other direction, why is it that I don't go to this school yet I know it better than you, puri."

Hinata ignored him as she continued walking towards the tennis courts, hundreds of club members were training, yet all of them male, the only females were the one squealing at a player with a mole under one eye and blue eyes.

"They have more people than our club," remarked Niou looking around, his silver hair and Rikkai uniform caught the attention of the tennis club members,their eyes trailed after them as they walked by. Hinata looked around until she finally spotted Sakaki, she had begun walking towards him when two of the tennis club members stopped her.

"May we help you?" one asked, his hair had a blue tint and he wore a pair of round glasses, there was a strange accent in his voice which Hinata didn't recognise.

"Before that, HE's not welcomed here," the short red haired male added, glaring at Niou. Niou just shrugged and brushed him off.

"Hina-chan, why are we here?" he questioned, Hinata frowned as she looked at him.

"I have business here, YOU followed ME senpai," she pointed out.

"Since we're no longer going to the same school, don't call me senpai," said Niou.

"Then what?"

"How about Masaharu-sama?" suggested Niou.

"Over my dead body," was the prompt response.

"Just Masaharu then," said Niou. Hinata was still angry at him, the blood rushing from her brain seemingly made her not realise that he had just asked her to call him by his first name.

"Fine," she replied, seeming to have forgotten the very existence of the Hyotei tennis club members who stopped her as she turned around and walked right past them without a second glance.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As Niou followed Hinata he caught his reflection in the glasses of one of the tennis club members, his brown roots were extremely apparent against the silver.

"Hiina, you have to dye my hair puri," he commented.

"Bite me," Hinata snapped, still angry at him. Niou smiled and leaned in closer towards her.

"Pearl of my heart, you know if you let me I would," he teased blowing in her left ear, a chill ran down Hinata's spine and she elbowed him in the stomach.

"That is disgusting! Do that again and it's your pearls I'll be aiming for," she warned.

"I'll keep that in mind," Niou replied, cradling his stomach with a grin. Niou could feel the eyes starring after him as he walked by, his uniform and bright hair stood out like a sore thumb. He could hear voices whispering "Hey isn't that!" and "Rikkai, Kantou number 1 tennis team." Hinata sighed, she should have expected this, after all they were at a tennis club and in this circle Rikkaidai's name was famous.

"Your hair is drawing too much attention," she scowled.

"I know, the regrowth is just so-" Niou paused as he cut himself off when. "That's not what you meant is it?" She shook her head. "Well, I'm actually quite famous you know," he said cheerfully.

"I know, I also know that you seduced the president of the student council to let me join the tennis club," Hinata pointed out. Niou looked at her with a surprised expression.

"You knew about that huh?" he asked. When Niou had recruited Yagyuu to the tennis club from the golf club he learnt of Yagyuu's nationally ranked archer of a younger sister who was on the student council as well as part of the archery club. The captain and student council president were not happy that he wanted her to join the tennis club, due to the later's ridiculous training schedule and practice regime, she would have to quit all of her other activities as a result. Hinata didn't mind leaving the student council, she only joined because her brother wanted her to, but getting her to leave the archery club was harder. Niou tried everything from bribery to blackmail (He'd gotten his hands on a love letter a poor fellow had written to her but it didn't seem to work, she only laughed at him and called him a idiot) but nothing he did could convince her to quit. In the end it was Yukimura who persuaded her to join, no one knows how or what he did, although there were bets on it ranging from 'he slept with her' to 'his her type' Niou had betted on the latter, she seemed to have a soft spot for the cute and adorable, a theory supported by Yagyuu's confirmation that her room was filled with plush toys.

When they finally reached the Hyotei coach Hinata waited patiently for Sakaki to finish talking to the male with a mole under one eye.

"-aside from that a splendid play as usual Atobe," praised Sakaki. The male named Atobe bowed.

"Thank you very much," a very tall student picked up his bag and the two walked past Niou and Hinata, as he walked past Hinata he winked. Atobe had dark brown hair, a handsome face and an arrogant smirk on his lips, intrigued by his boldness; Hinata smiled at him. A flame of jealousy erupted from Niou's chest.

"Yagyuu-san, excellent timing," said Sakaki as Hinata and Niou walked towards him. "We've just finished, do you have a change of clothes?" asked Sakaki. Hinata nodded.

"Wait, what's going on?" asked Niou looking around, there were at a tennis club, Hinata was reaching past the tennis racket in her bag for something, but there was no way, was there? "Wait, so you join their tennis club on your first day but it took us almost a week worth of persuasion for you to join ours?!"

"Meh, they have free coffee," she replied. "Can I leave my bag here?" she asked Sakaki who nodded, she removed a bag containing her change of clothes and walked off in the direction of the changing rooms leaving her rackets with Niou and the Hyotei coach.

"May I ask for your name?" asked Sakaki, the way his spoke made Niou think of Yagyuu.

"I'm waiting for Hinata," Niou replied, eyes were staring and for the first time he did not enjoy the attention.

"I can see that," Sakaki commented. "But that doesn't answer my question."

"Oh! Ah Niou, Niou Masaharu," replied Niou. There was a pause, was he suppose to saying something? "Hi," he added.

"I take it you play tennis as well?"

"Yeah, I taught Hinata how to hit the ball when she first picked up a racket." Unlike Yagyuu, Hinata was a hard student to teach, she'd purposely ask pointless questions and miss the ball just to get on Niou's nerves but it didn't mean she was horrible at tennis; she just had a horrible personality. Hinata would be loosing 5 games in a row but then make such a come back that her opponent couldn't even get a single point, she enjoyed the hunt and the chase, it was what made her so good but so terrifying as well.

"How long has she played tennis?"

Niou frowned in thought. "One almost two years." There was another thing about the Yagyuu siblings that Niou hated, it wasn't that they were extremely talented and quick learners, that Niou could swallow, but it was the fact that one day he could be teaching them how to hit a ball over the net and the next they would have progressed by themselves so much that sometimes they would even suppress Niou in certain aspects, that pissed him off. It was a constant reminder that hard work didn't always make up for natural talent.

"Yagyuu-san will be here for quite some time, you sure you wish to wait?" asked Sakaki politely, however Niou didn't like his tone or his choice of words.

"I'll be fine," he replied.

"Ha, you, fine? I've seen toilets finer than you," remarked Hinata appearing behind him causing Niou to jumped. "Now you know how I feel when you do that to me," she remarked.

"Funny…" before he continued he looked Hinata up down, she wore a simple black t-shirt, a pair of very short shorts, black runners and white socks. Niou had always seen her as a little kid, but seeing her dressed so, made him realise, she was a girl and a very nice looking one at that.

"What?" she asked when Niou didn't finish his sentence.

"Nothing, but if your brother catches you wearing those shorts he'll rummage through your wardrobe and replace it all with track pants and sweat shirts," remarked Niou. Hinata looked at her outfit self consciously.

"Is it too much? These are the clothes I always wear whenever I go to the local tennis courts, they're comfy and easy to move in," she said not wanting to worry her brother.

"No you look fine, you know Yagyuu, he'd try stop you from buying a bra if it meant stopping you going through puberty," Niou assured her. She had breast, he'd never noticed until now and they weren't small either, why didn't he ever notice until now? Before Hinata could realise he was staring he raised his eyeliner and looked at her face.

"Ha, why thank you," she replied getting her racquet.

"Net, baseliner or all rounder?" asked Sakaki.

"Net," replied Hinata. Sakaki search the crowd and picked out a male of average height with short scruffy brown hair and a cap.

"Shishido, play a match against her," said Sakaki.

"Yes coach," Shishido immediately replied, balancing his racket on a finger as he walked to the tennis court.

"You serve first," said Hinata throwing Shishido a tennis ball she'd picked up off the ground.

"You asked for it," he replied throwing the ball in the air and served, his movements were slow. Was he underestimating her? As he changed into position to return, the ball was already rolling on the ground of his side of the court.

"You let your guard down Shishido!" shouted a short red haired male.

"Shut up!" replied Shishido. "Won't happen again," he threw the ball in the air and served this time moving a lot quicker than before. As Hinata returned the serve Shishido ran to the net and volleyed it over, it bounced twice and rolled on the floor, now she knew one thing, he was extremely fast. "Told you, won't happen again." Hinata just shrugged, the game continued with Shishido claiming the first game.

"This isn't much of a match," remarked a tall, blue haired male with round glasses.

"You said it Yuushi, what on earth is the coach thinking? Pitching her against a regular, even if he's a disgraced one," replied the red head.

"Did something happen senpai?" asked Ootori as he walked towards the court.

"Where you been?" asked the red head.

"I had to help the music teacher move the grand piano to the concert stage," replied Ootori. "Why? Did-" his eyes wondered to Hinata and Shishido. "Oshitari-senpai, Mukahi-senpai, why is Hinata-san playing against Shishido-san?"

"You know her?" asked Oshitari.

"Sort of, she just transferred to my class, why are they playing a match?"

"Who knows, ask the coach," replied Mukahi.

Hinata bounced the ball a couple of times before tossing it in the air, unlike a normal serve where the hand that threw the ball would face the server and add a backspin, she threw the ball with a grip that resembled someone holding a cup letting go of the ball as her hand went down not up. She waited until the ball dropped down to where it was just above her head before hitting the ball with her racket. The ball looked normal enough but when it bounced the angle of the ball was unusual causing Shishido to miss his sweet spot and hit a foul.

"Do you think it was a fluke?" asked Mukahi watching on.

"Don't know," replied Oshitari replied, however his focus on the match heightened.

Again and again Hinata served and despite the same stance, every time the trajectory of the ball was different.

"1 game all!" shouted the 2nd year referee.

"Seems like we were wrong," noted Oshitari. "Perhaps she more interesting than we thought."

* * *

"2 more to go!" said Ootori as he watched Hinata stand vulnerably on the tennis court with a lethally speeded tennis ball machine pointed at her. When the machine spat its 299th ball he closed his eyes and looked away, unable to watch. At the beginning of this training routine Hinata had returned every ball with ease but by the time she reached the 200th ball, she was physically exhausted and her eyes ached. Keeping up put a tremendous strain on her eyes, arms and legs, several times she missed and the ball struck a part of her body. She'd already received two bruises on her chest, three on her shoulders, four on her arms and they were still counting. However, Hinata was determined, her match against Shishido was stopped before they could determine a winner and resulted in a lot of pent up frustration. Hinata raised her arm and returned the ball, exhaustion had made her aim weak but it still landed perfectly in the singles court.

"1 more!" shouted Ootori looking again when he heard her hit the ball, this was worse than serving to Shishido, for one the machine was ruthless and for another it spat out a ball every ten seconds whether she was ready or not. The machine spat out its final ball and once more Hinata managed to return it, Ootori sighed in relief, she was alive… still. "You okay?" he asked walking towards her after pressing the red off switch of the machine, it was already empty but it paid to be cautious.

"Fine," replied Hinata. "I only wished I didn't spend the last 3000 seconds having a machine aim balls at me." Ootori chuckled and handed her a towel as he knelt beside her. "Thanks," she said wiping the sweat from her face with it.

"So, I'm alive, you're…kinda alive, how about we get something to eat after this nightmare?" asked Ootori.

"Umm…sure?" replied Hinata. Ootori's heart suddenly felt warm. "We could ask Shishido-senpai if he wants to come as well," she added. Ootori did he best to hide his disappointment.

"Huh?"

"You know the more the-" something behind Ootori suddenly caught her attention. "Choutaro-kun, behind you!" Ootori quickly turned around to see that the machine was not turned off, a ball entered the main frame and was projected toward them,relying on pure reflexes Ootori grabbed Hinata's racket and caught the tennis ball against the gut, shielded his face. The ball span around and around on the racket before falling to the ground. There was a long pause as they process what just happened.

"I just lost ten years of my life," Hinata commented, breaking the tense silence. Ootori laughed wearily and nodded in agreement. What happened? He was sure that he had turned the machine off, why did it still fire? Was there another ball in the chamber? He stood up and hurried to turn it off before anything else could happen. Ootori returned Hinata her racket. "Thanks," she said standing up and walking away. "Tea."

"Hmm?" Ootori stood up.

"I want to eat at a place that serves tea and cakes, we deserve a treat for surviving sudden death," said Hinata. "We need to get changed so, meet you at the front gate in half an hour?"

"Sure, what about Shishido-san?"

"He can come some other time," replied Hinata before turning around and running to the lockers. Ootori smiled as he felt his face go red.

* * *

"I've got no strings, to hold me down. To make me fret, or make me frown. I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me…" sang Hinata as she walked towards the female changing rooms. Unknown to many at Hyotei, the 8 large steel doors in the girls changing room many believed to be storage units were actually for the female tennis club, one in particular she used as a locker.

Opening the door to get her gear she signed when she saw her bag, someone had drawn over it in white marker when she had left it in the classroom earlier that day. While she knew this was going to happen, it still bothered her. It was just like the time she started at Rikkai, being Yagyuu's younger sister she made enemies due to her proximity to him. The bullying only ended when she joined the tennis club and Yukimura brought her under his wing, since then no one had dared touch her….however she was now in a place where Yukimura's influence was too far away.

She sighed again, this was going to be a long long year. On the other hand, her bag looked pretty cool.

* * *

"Sorry to keep you wait-" began Hinata when she reached the front gate of the school, but Ootori was not waiting for her, instead he was breaking apart a fight between her favourite silver haired trickster and the tennis club member Shishido Ryo, so far the only other regular aside from Ootori who seemed to have accepted her.

She sighed; she'd been doing that a lot recently; and hurried to the scene of the crime. Kicking Niou just below the rib cage and in the kidney he stumbled back, at the same time she gave Shishido a good strong wack on the collar bone, it wouldn't hurt him, just push him back.

"Oww," complained Niou after he landed on the concrete floor. "The hell was that for Hiiina!?" he demanded without even needing to look at her to know who was responsible for the attack. Yagyuu was the type who would just pull him back while Hinata had a tendency to kick him. Not at all what he initially thought was a man's weak spot the area just below the ribcage where all the soft tissue resided hurt the most, it hurt more than he expected and while his privates would stop paining him after an hour or so, the kick in the rib hurt for the next week or so especially when he ate. She used every opportunity that came by to kick him there, every single chance she got.

"For causing a ruckus outside my school," replied Hinata.

"I wasn't even the first to act," rebutted Niou. Hinata snorted, she highly doubted that.

"He's telling the truth," said Ootori helping Shishido up. "They two…had conflicted opinions-" as polite as ever "-and Shishido-san hit him."

"Oh," said Hinata turning to Niou she held out a hand and helped him up. "Sorry about that then."

"Is what she says," muttered Niou in an exaggerated low and sad voice, but with wicked humour he added cheerfully. "Oh well!" He put an arm over her shoulder for once knowing she wouldn't hit him again in any way. Ootori shifted uncomfortably as he watched.

"Choutaro-kun," said Hinata gaining his attention.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, but could we reschedule?" she asked. "It's just if I don't get him," she poked Niou. "Back to his tamer I'll end up loosing my head as well for not casting a net over him."

"Oh! Yeah, sure, it's fine," Ootori assured her, doing his best to disguise his real feelings.

"Well," Hinata took hold of Niou's arm. "Bye, and sorry," she said to Ootori and Shishido.

"Yeah, bye," replied Ootori watching Hinata leave, Shishido just waved.

"So why were you fighting?" Hinata asked, Niou shrugged.

"I said that this was a second rate school for coming second last year and the year before that," replied Niou, Hinata pinched him. "Ow! Hey! I wasn't the one who landed the first blow!"

"Yes, but you provoked it," said Hinata. "Now come on."

"Where are we going?"

To Sanada-senpai so he can muzzle you, Hinata thought to herself, but instead replied with. "I feel like visiting some old teammates."


End file.
